THRISSUR: The Crime Branch registered the arrest of Dileep, 35, of Pattalakkunu at Mannuthy near here on Tuesday for murdering a moneylender, Saji John, 39, of Ollukkara in the same locality in 2010.
The remains of Saji, who went missing on August 29, 2010, was dug out of a septic tank by CB sleuths at Anjangadi, near East Fort here on Friday.
Crime Branch CI V.K. Raju, who conducted the investigation into the ‘man missing- turned murder case’, told DC that the CB had warned the family members of Dileep, who was working at Medina in Saudi Arabia as a diesel mechanic, that it was better for him to surrender to the Kerala police rather than to spend his entire life in Saudi jail.
“Our tactic bore fruit and Dileep arrived at Cochin airport on Sunday night and was picked up by the CB sleuths. After nearly 12 hours of questioning, he confessed that he hit Saji twice on his head with a chopper in a fit of anger during an argument over money dealings on the evening of August 29, 2010 in the garage of Dileep in East Fort which is in a secluded place. Later, Dileep dumped the body covered in a plastic sack into the tank the same day during heavy rain,” he said.
Dileep had earlier conducted a press meet alleging that the police were harassing him over the man- missing case and later went to Saudi Arabia for work.
“The fact that Dileep was the last person to meet Saji before he went missing made the CB conduct a detailed inquiry into his role in the case. The discovery of the remains and identification of it as that of Saji on the basis of the cross he was wearing and the metal rod fixed on one of his legs were crucial in the CB’s attempt to prove the murder case,” he said.
The CB is awaiting the DNA and other forensic reports like super imposition to file a chargesheet against Dileep, who is presently lodged in judicial custody at Viyyur central jail.
